The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Feb. 23 announced the renewal of existing Geographic Targeting Orders that temporarily require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used to pay all cash for high-end residential real estate in six major metropolitan areas.
FinCEN has found about 30% of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a beneficial owner or purchaser representative that is also the subject of a previous suspicious activity report, according to a news release. This corroborates FinCEN’s concerns about the use of shell companies to buy luxury real estate in all-cash transactions, the release stated.
FinCEN renewed the GTOs in the following major U.S. geographic areas: (1) all boroughs of New York City; (2) Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida; (3) Los Angeles County; (4) three counties comprising part of the San Francisco area (San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties); (5) San Diego County; and (6) Bexar County, Texas. The renewal period began Feb. 24 and runs for 180 days.
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CFPB seeks comment on student loan servicing market
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing and seeking comment on an initiative to review the way consumers repay student debt and track the student loan industry activities for consumers who experience financial distress.
The bureau is proposing to collect student loan data from the largest student loan servicers. This proposed project would provide the CFPB with more information about the student loan market, with a focus on key areas that might put consumers at risk.
Written comments on the information collection are due by April 17.
To learn more, click here.
FTC reports on efforts to combat illegal debt collection practices
The Federal Trade Commission recently released a summary of its 2016 efforts to stop unlawful debt collection practices. The commission submitted the report of its work on debt collection practices to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for inclusion in the CFPB’s annual report to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
In 2016, the commission:
• Obtained nearly $70 million against 61 defendants;
• Banned 44 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated violations of law from ever working in debt collection again; and
• Secured successful summary judgment decisions in three litigated matters, resulting in orders banning defendants from the debt collection industry.
To review the full report, click here.
CFPB posts webinar on HMDA rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Feb. 9 posted a new webinar about the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act final rule. The webinar discusses identifiers and data points, including those related to applicants and borrowers.
To view the webinar and other resources about the HMDA rule, click here.
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